Jose Santaemilia

Gender, Sex and Translation

The Manipulation of Identities

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Gendered and sexual identities are unstable constructions which reveal a great deal about the ideologies and power relatinships affecting individuals and societies

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd (Sales)
• Seitenzahl: 210
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. April 2005
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 234mm x 156mm x 11mm
• Gewicht: 299g
• ISBN-13: 9781900650687
• ISBN-10: 1900650681
• Artikelnr.: 42200041

Autorenporträt

Santaemilia, Jose

Inhaltsangabe

Gender, Sex and Translation: Contents
Introduction
Frontera Spaces: Translating as/like a Woman, Pilar Godayol, pp 9-14
The theory and practice of translating as/like a woman, being a political
and social discourse that criticizes and subverts the patriarchal practices
which render women invisible, assumes a feminine subjectivity. That is, it
makes plain that the common basis of its activity is a subject who lives in
a feminine body. However, despite sharing a common politics of identity,
the different feminisms, among them those in the field of translation,
interpret feminine subjectivity in different ways. Similarly, they also
differ in their definitions of their universal categories, such as 'women',
'identity', 'gender', 'sex', 'experience' and 'history'. As a result, some
translators cast doubt on the possibility of building a feminist theory of
translation given the contingency and mobility of its universal categories.
This raises an urgent question: how can a politics of identity survive if
it does not take into account the idea that its universal categories must
be permanently open and questioning in order to lay the ground for the
inclusions or exclusions of its future demands? This paper attempts to move
closer to the unresolved question of the feminine subject in the practice
of translation as/like a woman, as well as in all fields of general
feminist study.
The Creation of A "Room of One's Own": Feminist Translators as Mediators
Between Cultures and Genders, Michaela Wolf, pp 15-25
In the course of the 18th century, an increasing number of women tried to
create their own space both through the formation of a specific literary
discourse and the formation of a new professional group, the female writer.
This paper discusses the way in which female translators - in a historical
as well as contemporary context - can 'gender' their social and
intellectual environment, thus contributing to the formation of female
individuality through translation. Within the broader context of women's
constitution of a 'female image' in the period of the Enlightenment, and
drawing on the biographies of two German translators, Luise Gottsched and
Therese Huber, the paper illustrates the ways in which these two
translators subverted contemporary men-made translation practices and
translation theories. In the second part of the paper it is shown that to a
certain extent, even though under obviously different conditions, women are
still struggling for a "room of one's own" in the translational domain.
This is highlighted by the presentation of the results of a research
project which was carried out in Austria and which focused on a
comprehensive record of the state of the art of feminist translation in the
various fields of research, teaching and practice in German-speaking
countries. The emphasis of the project was on a theoretical survey of the
fields of feminist translation and feminist translation studies, detailed
surveys conducted in publishing houses concerning their 'policies' in
relation to feminist translation, enquiries into guidelines for non-sexist
language use in national and international institutions dealing with
translation as well as in translation agencies, and interviews with
feminist translators focusing on their working conditions.
Gender(ing) Theory: Rethinking the Targets of Translation Studies in
Parallel with Recent Developments in Feminism, M. Rosario Martín, pp 25-37
This paper grew out of the conviction that drawing parallels between the
evolution of gender studies and translation studies may be enlightening in
order to foster new developments in our discipline. Firstly, comparing the
evolution in the definition of the objects which are at the very basis of
these two movements, i.e., the concepts of 'woman' and 'translation',
allows us to posit that translation studies could enlarge its horizon by
revising and de-essentializing (emulating the move in gender studies in
relation to the concept of 'woman') both the ideal definition of
translation that has traditionally been in force and the social yet biased
definition of translation which descriptive translation studies claims as
the (only) point of departure. In the second place, the comparison seems to
be helpful not only in discovering the flaws of descriptivist approaches
but also in questioning and problematizing the core assumptions of
mainstream feminist translation theories. Gender studies, in short, proves
to be instructive not only for redefining the general targets of the
discipline but also for inspiring new feminist translation agendas which
aim to circumvent the risk of essentialism.
Tracing the Context of Translation: The Example of Gender, Luise Von
Flotow, pp 39-51
Starting from the premise that the contexts in which translations and
translation studies are produced are of paramount importance (Lefevere
1992), this article looks at a number of instances where gender has played
an important role - in the process of translation and/or in the studies of
a translated text. It begins with the work of Julia Evelina Smith, Bible
translator in the 1850s and suffragette in the 1870s, moves on to the
challenges encountered when translating the eighteenth-century abolitionist
discourse of French intellectual women for twentieth-century America, turns
to gay writing and its translation in the 1990s, and returns to the Bible
at the turn of the new century - the Vatican's Liturgiam authenticam
instructions on Bible translation and the new French Bible 2001.
On the Women's Service?: Gender-conscious Language in Dubbed James Bond
Movies, Nicole Baumgarten, pp 53-69
This paper deals with the construction of social gender through spoken
language in film. The investigation of language in film and film
translation has been a hitherto largely ignored field of enquiry. Before
proceeding to present a concrete example of the type of cross-linguistic
analysis undertaken on the basis of a large corpus of multimodal texts, the
paper gives an outline of a model for the analysis of language in film and
translated film dialogue ('the dubbed text'), which is based on a broadly
systemic functional theoretical framework. Drawing on current research into
the notion of cultural specificity in original and translated texts, the
paper aims at describing the forms and functions of language specific
textualization of 'extralinguistic concepts'.
Translation, Nationalism and Gender Bias, Carmen Ríos & Manuela Palacios,
pp 71-79
The analysis of the connections between nationalism and translation allows
for new perspectives on the issues of gender and language. An example of
this is represented by the project undertaken by the Galician group
Xeración Nós in the 1920s, as can be gathered from their translations into
Galician of Irish texts which are concerned with nationalist issues. It
seems that there is a gender bias in these translations, as both writers of
the source texts and translators are usually men, whereas the nation is
most often constructed in feminine terms. However, in order to avoid
charges of essentialism, both source and target texts have been thoroughly
analyzed to see how nationalist discourse constructs masculinity and
femininity, as well as the degrees of appropriation of these patterns that
translation may implement. The results of these analyses suggest that
Galician translations of Irish nationalist texts in the 1920s have
functioned as perpetuators of the gender bias of the source texts,
maintaining all the stereotypes around masculinity and femininity which
were characteristic of the Irish originals.
The Gendering of Translation in Fiction: Translators, Authors, and
Women/Texts in Scliar and Calvino, Rosemary Arrojo, pp 81-95
This paper focuses on how the theme of betrayal in translation (or
interpretation) is often treated in fiction in terms of love triangles in
which the interpreter's 'betrayal' of the original is associated with some
form of competition (between an interpreter and an author) for the love of
a woman. The objects of analysis are the following works of fiction: Italo
Calvino's Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore (first published in Italy
in 1979), and Moacyr Scliar's short story entitled 'Notas ao Pé da Página'
(published in Brazil in 1995). This type of analysis may help us further
understand the often negative reputation translators seem to have in a
culture that worships originals and tends to reject any activity that
somehow 'touches' them. It may also help us reflect on why mainstream
translation theories have always been so interested in controlling and
disciplining translators and their 'subversive' interventions in the texts
they necessarily have to rewrite.
Translating True Love: Japanese Romance Fiction, Harlequin-Style, Janet S.
Shibamoto Smith, pp 97-116
Japanese preferences for fictionalized love affairs depicted in category
romance fiction have been significantly affected by translated
Harlequin-style western romance novels. Harlequins have been immensely
popular since their introduction in the early 1980s, even to the point of
triggering a 'Harlequinization' of Japanese romance novels. Harlequin
translations are thus one important site for displaying the qualities and
behaviours associated with portraits of desirable femininity and
masculinity. This paper presents an analysis of three aspects of
interactional style between the Harlequin hero and heroine that differ
substantially from the typical styles of Japanese category romance novels.
Dialogue drawn from the Harlequin lovers' interactions is analyzed and
interpreted against native Japanese norms for the appropriate expression of
emotion and against the speech and actions of counterpart lovers drawn from
a sample of contemporary native Japanese category romances. Of the
differences found, two serve primarily to construct a different kind of
heroine, the third, a different hero. Together, they provide new spaces for
imagined female equality and emotional helplessness, on the one hand, and
for male verbal expressivity, on the other. Japanese-language Harlequins
offer linguistic portraits of 'true' lovers inhabiting very different
worlds of heterosexual desirability from their domestic Japanese fictional
lover counterparts. The imported 'messages' about ideal heroines and heroes
may not always flatter Western-style lovers, but they provide alternative
ways of imagining loverly behaviour for the Japanese reader.
The Translation of Sex/The Sex of Translation: Fanny Hill in Spanish, José
Santaemilia, pp 117-136
Sex is, without a doubt, one of the most intimate indicators of identity,
as it conjures up images of sexual activity, eroticism, pleasure, taboo,
fantasies, desire, etc. Likewise, language is the most intimate way of
expressing sex. John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1748-49) is
the most famous erotic novel written in English: it is both a pornographic
work and a philosophico-rhetorical exploration of sex and sexuality as a
key discourse in eighteenth-century England. It also offers provocative and
mixed-up perspectives: a male (Cleland's) fantasy about female (Fanny
Hill's) sexuality for a predominantly male audience. This wealth of
perspectives places a great deal of importance on translation - the
translation of sex becomes a political act, with important rhetorical and
ideological implications. Since its publication Fanny Hill has been an
enormously popular novel, which has enjoyed innumerable translations into
the major European languages. The earliest documented translations into
Spanish, however, come from the 1920s. In this paper I examine four Spanish
translations of Fanny Hill from the late 1970s, after Spanish dictator
Franco died: three of these translations were carried out by men (Lane
1977; Martínez Fariñas 1978; Santaemilia and Pruñonosa 2000) and one by a
woman (Podestá 1980). The main objective is to test whether translating
sexual language and imagery suggests different strategies for either male
or female translators, whether there is any gender-associated struggle for
rewriting the erotic into a different language.
Gender and Interpreting in the Medical Sphere: What is at Stake?, Orest
Weber, Pascal Singy & Patrice Guex, pp 137-147
Like other Swiss urban centers, Lausanne has a high foreign population
which includes a significant number of recent arrivals making use of the
health care system. When medical specialists and migrants meet in this
context, they often have little knowledge of the sociolinguistic and
sociocultural systems used by their interlocutor. Recourse to a translator
seems to be the only solution enabling the two parties to achieve mutual
understanding. Traditionally, this third person is one of the patient's
relatives or acquaintances. Due to the problematic nature of this practice,
a group of Lausanne health care providers initiated a pluridisciplinary
action-research. The major objective of this study was to advocate the
introduction of professional Cultural Mediators/Interpreters (CMIs) and to
measure the effects of this change on the representations made by the
persons involved: patients, health care providers and CMIs. Data were
collected in focus groups and interviews and subjected to qualitative
analysis. The investigation of linguistic and social representations has
revealed diverging views regarding the role of participants' gender in
translated medical consultations. There seems to be a general consensus as
to the existence of taboos linked to gender roles, whereas there are
significant differences in opinion on the importance of choosing the health
care provider and the translator/ress according to the patient's gender.
Further analysis of this controversy reveals that underlying the question
of gender, the place of a new group of actors (CMIs) in the medical field
is being negotiated. Grasping the stakes of the discourses on gender of
translators/resses implies considering them in their broader context
because the hierarchy of this field rests on principles other than solely
gender domination.
Who Wrote This Text and Who Cares?: Translation, Intentional 'Parenthood'
and New Reproductive Technologies, Ulrika Orloff, pp 149-160
This article makes a connection between the ideologies forming the Western
conception of human reproduction on the one hand and literary production on
the other. By presenting the contingent, arbitrary and outdated foundation
on which those ideologies are built the purpose is to pave the way to an
alternative manner of perceiving creativity and the well-being of its
offspring. Ultimately, to discuss the ability of a translator from the
point of view of gender or the suitability of a parent from the point of
view of sex would become superfluous. The opportunity for the latter and,
consequently, the former has presented itself in the form of New
Reproductive Technologies (NRTs) and their influence on how the notion of
procreativity and parenthood is perceived in the eyes of the individual
and, most significantly, the law. The concept of originality in the shape
of artistic genius and units of transferable genes could be replaced by the
idea that whoever is the best provider of care for the text or the child is
also its rightful 'custodian'.
A Course on 'Gender and Translation' as an Indicator of Certain Gaps in the
Research on the Topic, ¿ebnem Susam-Sarajeva, pp 161-176
This essay focuses on the challenges of giving a lecture course on 'gender
and translation' and on the insights such a course offers into gender
studies and translation studies. Based on the experience of the author in
teaching this course in Finland, the essay first examines the advantages
and disadvantages of setting up a course on translation specifically from
the perspective of gender-oriented approaches. It states that while the
course was useful in increasing students' awareness in translational
matters and gender-related issues, certain problems arose in relation to
addressee, genre, and languages involved, and the feminist interests
underlying these approaches. The essay then raises certain questions
concerning the present levels of exchange between gender studies and
translation studies, and between these disciplines and 'the real world'. It
points out certain gaps in the existing research on gender and translation
and offers some suggestions for tackling these gaps.
Bibliography
Subject Index
Author Index